Hey! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas! Or any other tradition you celebrate! New Year's coming!
This chapter is slightly longer than the rest with a twist at the bottom. *grins*
And thank you so much for all your alerts and reviews! I had an awesome time reading each and every one. THANK YOU. *throws everyone virtual cookies*
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please don't hunt me down and kill me at the end.
And the link for the *cough*RING*cough* is in my profile.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING.
Chapter 18
DPOV
Christmas was finally coming. I dragged Rose around town to go Christmas shopping. Now, I know what you're thinking. No, I am not gay. Yes, I know usually the females are the ones dragging everyone else but Rose was just wouldn't get up from bed. So I poured cold water in her face and dragged her out. In my defense, when I asked Christian for water of room temperature, I didn't know he would give me ice-cold water instead. Okay, maybe I did. But could you blame me?
It was a few days before Christmas and Paul has been begging me to get him some new video game. I don't know, some probably violent game. On the bright side, it will give him practice for his future education in killing Strigoi so I'm not a bad uncle. Or maybe I should get him a dictionary and a thesaurus.
Flashback
"Hey, Uncle Dimka." He called. "Can I ask you a question?"
I eyed him curiously. "What kind of question..."
"It's for school. We're supposed to pick a word and find other words that have the same meaning." He explained. Well, that seems safe enough.
"Okay, sure. What's the word?" I asked.
"Rooster." What?
"Why'd you pick that?"
"I don't know. It was the first thing that came to mind. Now, could you give me other words for rooster?"
I thought about it for a while. "Do you have Capon?"
He nodded.
"Banty?"
He nodded again.
"Chicken?"
"Of course, Uncle Dimka. I'm not an idiot."
"Oh. Well, right. Yeah. Umm, do you have...uhh, chick?"
He whined. "I need one more word, please! Uncle Christian, Adrian and Eddie won't tell me!"
Oh God. Now I know what word he's looking for. And why they won't tell him. "Well Paul, you can have other words too...like umm..."
I thought for a moment. Shit, shit, shit! The other words I know are even worse. I can't tell him those! It's worse than the word he's looking for.
"Uncle Dimka!" He whined again. "Please, please, please!" He repeated. Over and over and over and over and ov-
Rose came in at that time. "Oh for the love of- IT'S COCK."
From somewhere behind us, the trio burst out laughing, screaming out stuff like, "SHE SAID IT! YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS!" gasping for air.
Paul giggled. "I thought that meant-"
"Okay! Who's hungry?" I jumped up, effectively cutting Paul off, rushing to the kitchen when Paul tugged on my shirt.
"Uncle Christian said that there are two more words."
I groaned. I was going to KILL Christian, Adrian and Eddie. "Alright, I'll tell you the other words but you can not tell your mother I told them to you. Tell her those three told you." I pointed to the idiots who were laughing like hyenas on crack.
"The words are cockalorum and cockerel."
Paul giggled once more and the three musketeers laughed even harder. Seriously, how can they be so amused by the word cock?
Rose, being my savior, stepped in and smacked all three of them on the back of their heads. "If the three of you don't stop laughing, I'll stuff YOUR cocks into each others mouths." I grinned. That's my Rose. Wait, what did she say? Stuff cocks in, oh God, Eww, I did not need a visual of that. With Christian bending down with Adrian and Eddie to-, OKAY, I'M HUNGRY!
Viktoria just had to walk in, happen to see Paul's work and questioned it. Paul simply replied, "Uncle Dimka told me."
"PAUL!" Come on! He was my buddy! The dynamic Belikov male duo!
"But Uncle Dimka, you said not to tell mama. Not her." Oh God. I know that look on Viktoria's face. In a flash, she ran towards the stairs, screaming "KARO!"
I slammed my head on the table. Repeatedly.
End flashback.
I thought of getting little Zoya a Teddy bear as well. Maybe from that build-a-bear workshop Karo's been talking about.
I haven't exactly figured out what to give the others yet. Especially Viktoria for ratting me out. Not to mention the three idiots living in the same house, with the exception of Rose, of course.
Thus, here I am now, just the two of us, Rose and I, doing our last minute Christmas shopping. We walked past the jewelry shop and grinned. I don't have to worry about Rose's gift anymore. I've got the perfect gift from that very shop.
Flashback
"Lissa, I need your help." I paced around the room, panicking. How was I going to do it? Be all cheesy and go under the mistletoe or maybe just do it casually, surprisingly.
I am so screwed.
"What is it, Dimitri?" She asked politely.
"-" I blurted out quickly. I'm supposed to be the calm, cool and collected guy, what the hell happened?
"Dimitri! Relax, breathe...Deep, slow breaths."
In...out...in...out...
"I want to propose to Rose. Properly this Christmas. And tell her that I love her. It has to be perfect but it's next week and I still don't have a ring and I still have no idea what to do, I mean, should I take her out or cook for her? Should she be there when I cook for her? Oh my God, what if I accidentally burn her hair? Or what if I accidentally sprayed ketchup all over her face? Am I even going to need ketchup?"
"DIMITRI!" Lissa screamed. She placed a hand on my arm and rubbed my back. "Relax. Breathe. We can go to the mall now to get a ring, if you want."
In...out...in...ou- wait, I forgot to answer. In...out...shakes head- WAIT WRONG GESTURE. Nod, in, out...
I am so whipped. I guess it's a good thing that I love her so much.
Lissa and I arrived to the mall quickly and walked to the jewelry store. Come on people, of course we walked, what else are we going to do? Be in the Christmas spirit and freeze the whole place so we can skate there? Oh! There's an idea...proposal on ice...wait a minute, what if I drop the ring and it just goes PSHEW! and gets lost?
"Is it here?" Lissa interrupted my train of thought as she pointed to the right shop. I nodded and gestured her there.
Once we reached inside, an American girl named Jessica approached us, a wide smile plastered across her face.
"Hi, we're looking for a ring." Lissa informed her and smiled.
"Oh you too are getting married? Congrat-"
"No, no, no." I cut her off as Lissa continued, "I'm already engaged."
"Oh, so a wedding ring, okay!" Oh man, this girl is...wow.
"No, we're getting a ring for someone else." Lissa told her.
"Oh, does that mean you're still available?" She faced me. Oh for the love of-
"I'll take it from here, Jessica." A woman emerged from behind her and told her to entertain another couple that just entered.
"I'm sorry about her. She's new here." The woman named Klara explained to us. Nametags are so useful.
"So, what can I get you?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"We're looking for an engagement ring." Lissa informed her.
"Nothing too fancy, something simple but not too simple...nothing with big stones on it. Somehow, it doesn't fit Rose..." I told her and she nodded her head.
"I may have a few rings for you." She gestured us to the other side of the store and started placing all the potential rings on the table.
We spent an hour and a half at the shop, still looking for the perfect ring. None of the rings seemed right. I was about to give up when I saw it. The perfect ring. It was a normal plain silver band that has little diamonds within it. It's different. It's plain, simple, perfect.
End Flashback.
That same ring is still in its black velvet box, in my pocket. It suddenly weighed a hundred tons heavier whenever Rose is around.
We walked around a few stalls, window-shopping, passing by baby shops to see what we should get for the baby. Rose gave comments like, "Aw, that's cute. Mommy's little monster. They should have one that says 'My uncle's an idiot'." I would give a sarcastic laugh and continue walking.
By the end of the day, we would have had Christmas presents for everyone. Loaded them up in the car and drove home.
When we reached home, we collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. But guess what? I didn't sleep on the floor.
When I woke up, my arms were wrapped around Rose, her body close to mine. I grinned. I propped myself up, careful not to wake her, and got a good look at her face. She was still in deep sleep. I could tell from he even breathing. Well, that and the fact that she just stopped snoring like five minutes ago. Seriously, you'd think there's a machine stuck in her throat.
I brushed the hair out of her face and couldn't resist giving her a small peck on her cheek. She stirred a little as I went back down, arms still around her, and pretended to be asleep.
I felt her stretching against me, her muscles rubbing against mine. I need a cold shower. Now.
As I was about to 'wake up' I realized something. She hasn't moved. She did nothing to move my arm away or wriggle herself out. Instead, she actually moved in closer. She turned around, I kept my eyes shut, and she snuggled in closer. What the hell is she doing? Well, whatever it is, I LIKE IT.
She buried her face in my chest. Well, in the space between my chest and my armpit actually. I felt her hair brush there. Heheh, that tickles. Focus Belikov!
I did the whole, 'pretend-to-be-unconsciously-pulling-you-closer-in-my-sleep' thing. I tightened the hold my arm hand on her.
I heard her sigh and mumble something. I couldn't quite catch it. Eye dove you? What the heck does that mean?
She released herself from my hold and walked towards the bathroom. I casually pretended to stretch and said "You're awake."
"Good morning." She greeted me. Ohhh good morning indeed.
"I'm going to go first. I need a shower desperately to think about something." She pointed towards the bathroom.
"Why do you need a shower to think?" That's just weird.
"Ideas tend to come to me when I'm wet." She admitted.
Inner Dimitri who was drinking coffee sprayed the whole thing after picturing that dirty mental image. My eyes wanted to pop out.
"Oh, God no! Not that wet, I was talking about the showering wet, not the horny kind, it's just- yeah I'm going to shut up and get wet- I mean, shower now." Her face turned red and went into the bathroom. I think my brain just died. That was...awkward.
Once I heard the door click, I rushed towards the duster I used yesterday and took the ring out. I opened the box once more to inspect the ring. How am I going to do it? Do I pull a cheesy stunt with the dinner and the mistletoe and have a speech prepared with the whole, "I love you, will you marry me?" thing?
I laughed at myself. Before this whole mess, I never thought that I'd be sitting here, wondering how I'm going to propose to ROSE out of all people! I was about to pull the ring out when I heard the door click open.
Shit, shit, SHIT! She can't know. I threw the velvet box in another box somewhere under the bed. I had to throw that box away but what the heck. She can't find the ring.
"What did you do?" She questioned me.
"Nothing, just dropped my...uh, pillow." I grabbed the first pillow I saw. "See? It's up here now." I gave a nervous laugh.
"Whatever. Could you pass me the towel? It dropped on the floor."
"Why don't you get it? It's closer to you."
"Come on, it isn't hard to go pick up a towel and pass it here."
"Exactly!"
She grumbled and walked towards the towel, bent down and grabbed it. When she was down, her shirt had a very big area for her head so when she bends down, it sort of...uhm, I could see... something...there. I gulped. Was she wearing a bra? She has to use one. I couldn't really see it, but, didn't Viktoria say something about skin colored bras? Maybe she was wearing one of those. I mean, she has to wear a bra. She's a woman, right? But...but...but... I gulped once again.
"See? Wasn't so hard now was it?" Oh, it's hard alright. I seriously need that cold shower now.
I slammed my head back on the pillow and groaned, "Argh!" My life. Is so. Messed up.
RPOV
Once I finished taking a shower, I stepped out and allowed Dimitri in. Once I heard the water running, I dashed to the bed and looked under it. What does he have under there? Oh! A box. Interesting...
I pulled out a red old shoebox. It's filled with letters. Love letters, mostly. Some were casual letters. It's filled with letters all the way back like ten, fifteen years ago. It wasn't the about of letters that surprised me. It wasn't even the roses hand made out of paper or the hearts, it was the person making all of these. All of these were from the same person. He kept all of these. The earliest ones were about fifteen years ago. They had to be what? Thirteen back then? The newest ones were just last month. I can't believe he kept all these. The one thing that stands out the most was the black velvet box with a jewelry brand printed on the box and the year. 2010. Oh God. He's still not over her. That box looks brand new. I don't want to open it. It'll hurt too much. He's still in love with her, no matter how he acts. Maybe I'm just his rebound girl, woman, something. What the hell was I thinking? Falling in love with Dimitri Belikov. Yeah, I admit it. I fell in love with him. I shouldn't have. I knew this couldn't work. It will never work.
I heard the door click open. "Where did you get that?"
"You aren't even going to deny it, are you?" I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, no way in hell am I crying because of this bastard.
"Rose?" I heard him walk towards me. I jumped up and whipped around.
"You're still in love with her, aren't you?" I screamed.
"Who?" Dimitri looked puzzle. Fuck yeah he's puzzled.
"Tasha." I finally told him.
"Oh God, no! I don't love her, that's just-"
"Then why is there a ring box in there? It looks brand new and don't you dare lie to me, Dimitri." I said, furious, but softer now.
"I wanted to throw that box away, I swear! And I was hiding the ring. Roza, that ring is-"
I couldn't take it anymore. I raised my hand to stop him. "Save it. I don't want to hear anything anymore. I was about to tell you that I..." I shut myself up.
I went around the room to pack my things. I was already in winter wear. "I'm calling Noah. I'll tell him the truth and say that you were just helping me. You're Lissa's official guardian now, her only guardian. You better not screw this up." I warned him.
He moved closer to stop me. "Roza, please don't. Don't leave, I..I..."
"Just shut the heck up, Dimitri. I don't think I can handle you telling me how you're actually in love with Tasha and want to marry her. I can't believe I let myself into this mess."
Dimitri tried to stop me but I've already finished. I was fast like that. "Roza. Please, please don't leave. I'll explain everything, just give me-"
I spun around to scream at him. "I don't want an explanation! Damn it, this Christmas, I wanted to tell you that I love you. I love you, Dimitri. I couldn't believe it and denied it at first but I happened. I fell for you. I love you."
He stood there, too stunned to say anything. I dragged my bags downstairs while calling for a taxi to meet me somewhere outside this town. I could walk out.
Lissa apparently heard the whole commotion and ran towards me. "Rose, are you okay? I-"
"Lissa, I'm sorry. He's your only official guardian now and I'm not. I'm going back, talk to Noah and guard that stupid kid. I love you, Lissa but I can't do this anymore. The kid will be living in court once he finishes school and I'll see you at court every day but I'm not your guardian anymore. I really want to guard you, Lissa, I really do but that bitch of a queen has other plans up her fucking sleeve. I'll see you back in America. Back at court. I'm leaving."
Lissa was too shocked to say anything. Heck, everyone was too shocked to say anything. I turned to Olena and said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Thank you."
With that, I left. I heard the door slam closed as I walked out and it could have taken and idiot to know that it was Dimitri.
Snowdrops were falling but I didn't give a damn. He ran towards me, begging me to stay. He had that look on his face. That 'I'm-going-to-kiss-you' look. I saw his hands starting to come up to grab me but I stopped him. I shoved him away and jabbed a finger at him. "No. Don't you even dare try to kiss me. I thought you were better than trying to use my feelings for you to get me back. Don't even give me the crap about 'this-is-for-Lissa' shit. She's your charge now and if anything happens to her I swear I will kill you without even blinking. Don't do it. Especially kiss me right now. Don't Dimitri, just don't."
With that said, I walked away, the snowdrops, that turned into water once it touched my face, concealing my tears.
Please don't kill me!
In my defense, in the movie, she ran away too!
And I have no experience with snow, never seen them outside of TV so I'm just assuming that they melt when they touch skin or something like that. Sorry if i get it wrong!
I have another one-shot coming up. I absolutely love writing one-shots. Only problem, my brain can't generate ideas that often, so if you guys have an idea for a one-shot, i'd be honored to write it if you allow me to, and credit you of course. :D
Anyway, once again, the link for the ring is in my profile so go check it out!
And please please please review! We're close to 700 REVIEWS! Thank you so much guys, I love you all. Happy New Year!